Natasha Lomas
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The Latest from Natasha Lomas
Google StreetView cars to help map pollution in London
From next month two Google StreetView cars will be driving around London’s streets fitted with sensors that take air quality readings every 30 meters to map and monitor air quality in the UK cap
Google adds a search feature to account settings to ease use
Google has announced a refresh of the Google Accounts user interface. The changes are intended to make it easier for users to navigate settings and review data the company has associated with an acco
Beamery closes $28M Series B to stoke support for its ‘talent CRM’
Beamery, a London-based startup that offers self-styled “talent CRM”– aka ‘candidate relationship management’ — and recruitment marketing software targeted at fast
Europe takes another step towards copyright pre-filters for user generated content
In a key vote this morning the European Parliament’s legal affairs committee has backed the two most controversial elements of a digital copyright reform package — which critics warn cou
Blockchain browser Brave starts opt-in testing of on-device ad targeting
Brave, an ad-blocking web browser with a blockchain-based twist, has started trials of ads that reward viewers for watching them — the next step in its ambitious push towards a consent-based, p
Pew: Social media still growing in emerging markets but stalled elsewhere
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s (so far) five-year project to expand access to the Internet in emerging markets makes plenty of business sense when you look at the latest report by the Pew
Apple slapped with $6.6M fine in Australia over bricked devices
Apple has been fined AUS$9M (~$6.6M) by a court in Australia following a legal challenge by a consumer rights group related to the company’s response after iOS updates bricked devices that had b
Prisma co-founders raise $1M to build a social app called Capture
Two of the co-founders of the art filter app Prisma have left to build a new social app. Prisma, as you may recall, had a viral moment back in 2016 when selfie takers went crazy for the fine art spi
YouTube rolls its music subscription services into 12 more markets
YouTube has rolled out its music streaming service to a bunch more international markets, adding 12 new countries today, and also launching the premium music video version of the service across the f
Kaspersky pulls plug on Europol joint venture after EU parliament vote to ban its software
Fresh political woes for Russian security firm Kaspersky, which has reacted angrily to a vote in the European Union Parliament last week to ban its software — on the grounds that it has been 
F-Secure to buy MWR InfoSecurity for ~$106M+ to offer better threat hunting
The ongoing shift of emphasis in the cyber security industry from defensive, reactive actions towards pro-active detection and response has fueled veteran Finnish security company F-Secure’s acq
UK report warns DeepMind Health could gain ‘excessive monopoly power’
DeepMind’s foray into digital health services continues to raise concerns. The latest worries are voiced by a panel of external reviewers appointed by the Google-owned AI company to report on i
Union wins right to challenge Deliveroo on human rights grounds
The UK High Court has granted a union permission to challenge Deliveroo’s opposition to collective bargaining for its couriers on human rights grounds. The IWGB union argues that couriers for th
Here are the experts who will help shape Europe’s AI policy
The European Commission has announced the names of 52 experts from across industry, business and civil society who it has appointed to a new High Level Group on AI which will feed its strategy and po
Audit of NHS Trust’s app project with DeepMind raises more questions than it answers
A third party audit of a controversial patient data-sharing arrangement between a London NHS Trust and Google DeepMind appears to have skirted over the core issues that generated the controversy in th
Adblock Plus wants to use blockchain to call out fake news
eyeo, the company behind the popular browser-based ad block product Adblock Plus, is no stranger to controversy. Which is just as well given its new “passion project”: A browser add-on tha
Deliveroo fattens its market presence by opening to restaurants that do deliveries
Restaurant food delivery startup Deliveroo is taking the next logical step to expand its business by opening up to restaurants that have their own delivery fleets — thereby also expanding the fo
Dixons Carphone discloses data breach affecting 5.9M payment cards, 105k of which were compromised
European electronics and telecoms retailer Dixons Carphone has revealed a hack of its systems in which the intruder/s attempted to compromise 5.9 million payment cards. In a statement put out today i
Kry bags $66M to launch its video-call-a-doctor service in more European markets
Swedish telehealth startup Kry has closed a $66 million Series B funding round led by Index Ventures, with participation from existing investors Accel, Creandum, and Project A. It raised a $22.8
UK watchdog issues $330k fine for Yahoo’s 2014 data breach
Another fallout from the massive Yahoo data breach that dates back to 2014: The UK’s data watchdog has just issued a £250,000 (~$334k) penalty for violations of the Data Protection Act 1998. Y